One of the Guthrie Theater’s most popular plays is back, just in time for the holidays. This marks the 40th season of Charles Dickens’ immortal tale “A Christmas Carol.” This year, there’s a new twist on Crispin Whittell’s adaptation.

The St. Thomas football team celebrated Senior Day with a 57-35 win in its regular season finale against Gustavus on Saturday. Most of the 17 seniors on the squad also probably thought it was their final college football game. Not so fast. There was a sliver of hope for the No. 20-ranked Tommies after Bethel went to double overtime with Augsburg and lost 62-61 for its second loss of the season.

It’s state championship week in high school football, what every kid who ever puts on pads and a helmet dreams about. It’s also a bittersweet time for coaches and players because now there’s a certainty: This is the last football game of the year.

There are 1.4 billion lightning strikes globally each year — 25 million of those bolts occur in the U.S., and that number may be going way up. A study, recently published in the journal Science, concludes that a 50 percent increase in lightning strike frequency is possible by the end of the century.

It may be a bit early for some of us to be thinking about the holiday season, but within the Minneapolis theater community it was snowing long before Nov. 10. And the first theater to begin its holiday celebrations this season was the Children’s Theater Company.

It will be a bittersweet day for 17 seniors on Saturday as the St. Thomas football team plays its final regular season home game against Gustavus. It will also mark the end of their football careers as the Tommies are, at best, now a longshot for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

It’s a huge week for the four teams that are left in each class. You’re playing for something that might have only seemed like a dream in August: A chance to play for a state championship. The teams that advance this week head to TCF Bank Stadium to play in the Prep Bowl, while the others wonder what might have been after getting so close.

It’s now a two-game season for the St. Thomas football team, and assuming the Tommies win both of their remaining games, they’ll be in virtually the same spot they were in at this time last year. The Tommies, ranked No. 24 in the latest Division III poll, went back and forth with Concordia (Moorhead) last Saturday in the fourth quarter and came away with a 35-32 victory over the Cobbers.

There are a few things that every girl growing up in the 90s loved. Gel pens, Lisa Frank and Tamagotchis, to name a few. But there was nothing they loved more than boy bands. Well, at least there was nothing I loved more. So, when I was asked if I wanted to sit down with Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees, I of course said ‘I Do!’

The St. Thomas football program is at a crossroads as it heads into its penultimate home game Saturday against Concordia (Moorhead). The Tommies are 5-2 overall, 3-2 in the MIAC and for the first time since 2009, Glenn Caruso’s program is on the outside looking in at the national polls.

Eagan at Prior Lake highlights a big night of high school football across Minnesota Friday as state tournament bids are up for grabs. Every athlete that ever puts on football pads dreams of the chance to play for a trip to state. For 112 teams across seven total classes, the opportunity is there this week to celebrate a section championship when the clock hits zero.

A stretch of protected cycling lane recently opened on 36th St. W. in Minneapolis, spanning from Lake Calhoun to Bryant Ave S. The opening of this lane opened got me wondering: Are protected lanes really safer for cyclists?

The St. Thomas football team, ranked No. 22 in the country, faces its biggest game of the year Saturday at No. 11-ranked Bethel. The Tommies need a win over the Royals to stay in the hunt for a MIAC title and keep their chances alive to get to the postseason.

It’s playoff time in high school football in Minnesota. That means we’re in the heart of the fall, and every time a team takes the field the season is on the line. Athletes and teams hit the practice field in August and do the two-a-day practices for what starts now. It’s a chance to have an opportunity to play for a spot in the state tournament.

Alright Wild fans, it’s time to get our boys back to their winning ways. That trip out to the west coast did not pan out like fans or the team would have liked it to, but with the State of Hockey behind them, I’m sure the Wild is ready to get back at it.

We’re about halfway through the MIAC football schedule, and the conference race is already starting to take shape. While many of the usual suspects are near the top, there’s one name that’s in unfamiliar territory. And St. Thomas remains one game back in the MIAC race after being Augsburg in its homecoming game 45-27.

There are several conference titles on the line as well as the chance for home field advantage in the playoffs as teams kick off this week, and they’re doing so on short notice. It’s the week of Minnesota’s annual teacher’s conferences, so a majority of teams across the state are on a short week with games on Wednesday night.

Sometimes all it takes to recover from a frustrating loss to your rival is to blow out your next opponent with a dominating performance in all phases. That’s exactly what happened for the No. 24-ranked St. Thomas football team on Saturday. After a disappointing 24-14 loss to St. John’s last week, the Tommies put away St. Olaf early in a 69-7 win over the Oles in Northfield.

A conference title is on the line Friday night in Arden Hills as a pair of top 5 teams in Class 6A square off. No. 5-ranked Mounds View hosts No. 4-ranked East Ridge, and the Raptors can clinch a share of the Suburban East Conference title with a victory. It The match-up highlights a big night in prep football.

Have you got a bicycle in relatively good condition that you no longer ride? Or has your little one outgrown their smaller wheels and graduated to something bigger? If so, you can donate that old bicycle this weekend to the Free Bikes 4 Kidz (FB4K) program, which will tune it up and help get it into the hands of a child in need.

For many people, fall signifies the start of football season. This year, fans of the pigskin in Minnesota have not only the team to be excited about (or disappointed by), but a new stadium as well. Yet, while the new Vikings stadium is getting all sorts of press, the Xcel Energy Center is quietly undergoing a major renovation.